My heart lurched. I was furious. I was in a panic. I was afraid… Afraid of what might happen to me. I had mixed emotions. I didn’t see chance for spending the rest of my days in a mine… And by the way things were going, my chances of freedom didn’t look good. I only wished that that Terrowin would take my side and fight me out of this since my words clearly meant nothing.
“Terrowin!” I pleaded as the guards began dragging me away. I kicked wildly.
“Terrowin, help me! I didn’t kill anyone!” I blinked the tears from my eyes. “I’m not a murderer. I’m not a thief! Please!”
Terrowin was still jumping between options. At some point I was absolutely certain that he would stand up for me, but there was something holding him back… I couldn’t read his mind. He seemed worried. Almost cautious. I apprehended his decision…
Terrowin swallowed, veering his gaze from mine, trying to play nonchalant.
“Enjoy the mines then,” he said softly, almost distantly.
My heart snapped in two. I could feel it break. I could feel the unbearable ache clawing at my insides. I almost couldn’t find my words. I was numb, only carried away by the guards. Soon enough my anger kicked in.
“YOU TRADER! I can’t believe this!” My anger grew, the flame inside my soul only worsening as I clenched my fists, suddenly feeling an intense hatred towards Terrowin… Never before had my heart been so bitter. Something had undoubtedly broke within me. My breath was practically steaming as I huffed, biting down on my teeth.
“Just wait until I get my hands on you… I’ll blood end you, Terrowin! You hear me? I’ll strangle you!”
Wrong choice of words, Carlaylin. You’re already deep enough in deep waters as we speak… Or as I think... uh…
Shamefully, he dropped his gaze, trying his best not to make eye contact.
That coward!
I gave one forceful pull, almost loosening the guards’ grip.
The one guard acted quick and kicked me on the ankle. I winced and sank, kept upright by their merciless grips.
“Calm down!” he bellowed.
“Who set me up?!” I demanded to know, “Prune-face set me up didn’t she? Oh and Terrowin’s my next guess. HELP! Crazed guards kidnapping an innocent wizard! I’ll blast ya! Let me go! I’LL SCREAM!”
I guessed the guards didn’t fall for that wizard threat. They merely passed over my remark with one shout, “SHUT IT!”
The guard clasped my mouth shut with his hand, making it almost impossible for me to even say a word.
“The witness asked for their identity to remain hidden.”
I tried arguing, but only incomprehensible mumbles escaped my mouth.
As I was dragged through the library against my will, I shot a look at the librarian. All she did was stare menacingly at me, put her index finger on her mouth and said, “Shhhh!” I managed to wriggle my mouth free from the guard’s grip.
“That’s it. That hag is going down!”
The guards tightened their grip and only moments after did we pass the mysterious man with the newspaper. He raised his gaze from behind the paper but slightly and smiled ominously.
Three suspects as far as I know… Only question remains: Who really set me up to these crimes I didn’t commit?
Out of nowhere, Terrowin came rushing towards me from the labyrinth of bookcases.
There I was, thinking that he’ll deny my sentence, but instead he whispered, “Call a dwarf named Borin and ask for his help. He’ll be able to help you...”
I sighed miserably, the guards not exactly paying much attention to us.
“A friend of yours I presume?”
“Uh, it’s a complicated relationship. Oh, and whatever you do, don’t mention the word fire.”
Unfortunately, some of the guards did seem pestered by his interruption. Three hurried in behind him, grabbed at his one arm and both shoulders and yanked him back to keep him away from the official arrest process.
“Stay outta this,” the one spat bitterly. None of us paid much head. I merely continued the conversation like nothing had happened. Terrowin kept his caution.
“Err, why?”
“Just don’t if you wish to keep your sanity.”
I disappointedly shook my head.
“I trusted you… I thought you trusted me…”
He sighed despondently, a few things on his mind apparently.
“I… I can’t. Just not now…”
I laughed, my tone heavy with sarcasm, the hate still clinging to me.
“I’m still not taking ‘kill Terrowin’ off my agenda. Some friend you are. How could you? I’ll never be able to forgive you… You’ll get what’s coming to you. The first chance I get I’ll-”
I stopped myself and closed my eyes, letting go of a breath I had been holding.
It’s not worth it… I don’t have anything left to say to you, Terrowin. There’s nothing left.
I allowed the guards to take me away. Any place would be better than a place with Terrowin in the same room.
I left Terrowin only downheartedly staring from behind as I was pulled out of the library.
The large doors slammed close behind me with a loud and echoing noise. At least my luck wasn’t all too bad and at some point I managed to break free from the guards’ grip and dashed away, laughing with relief and with a hint of crazy maniac.
The first thought that came to me was… “FREEDOM!”
But I was dead wrong. Next thing I knew, a few guards tackled me from the side, a giant wooden plank heading my way, me stuttering, “Oh mama,” and being knocked out.
CHAPTER 25
TORTURE AS CHARLOTTE TAKES
HER TIME TO SHOW UP…
CARLAYLIN
I have no idea to how long I was out, but soon enough I was pretty much awake and kicking. Mostly aiming at the guards, that is.
Before I knew it, they threw me to the ground, letting me face-plant in front of another man’s feet. I slowly looked up and noticed it to be the head of authority in heavy bronze armour, keeping all that pride pushed out in his chest. He didn’t exactly look like the friendliest soul…
He had a piece of parchment and a quill in his hands. He stared down at me with absolutely no pity at all.
“Name.” His voice was cold.
“C-Carlaylin.”
The man’s expression turned livid.
“Full name!” I sighed and rolled my eyes, not exactly in the mood to deal with the petulance of others.
Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed.
“Well you could’ve told me that in the first place.” I wasn’t sure if I really wanted to give him my full identification.
“NOW!” I got to my feet and dusted myself off, my clothes somewhat coated in dark brown earth.
“Okay, okay. Calm down, would you? Carlaylin Thorel.”
He shot a look at his list and nodded.
“Our little murderer and thief I see. Unusual last name though.”
I didn’t know why, but I snapped. I couldn’t hold myself back as I threw myself at him. My attempts were soon brought to an end as a guard grabbed me from behind, restraining my arms. I wriggled and writhed.
“I’m innocent!”
“That’s what they all claim.”
“I’m serious!”
“Of course you are. Ever the innocent.” I gritted my teeth with anger.
“What evidence do you have against me then? Witnesses that claim to my deeds?”
The man stroked his chin as he faint to think about it.
“Well, I am the wrong person to say, but I do know that a merchant claims to the robbery himself and there are quite a few witnesses that declare you to be the one who murdered that man.”
My jaw dropped. Shock had me frozen.
How’s that even possible?
“I don’t even know the guy!” I said with a shaky voice, my hands raised in complete and utter
misery. I was close to break.
The man mouthed me talking in an attempt to mock me and rolled his eyes.
“Any last words in your finale state of freedom?”
I didn’t respond. All I had to give him was one nasty glare, my nostrils flared.
“Off with you then!”
The guard behind me jostled me onward and confiscated all my weapons and clothes, leaving me with nothing more than a simple dirty, ragged, white shirt, a pair of tattered light brown trousers and barefoot. They quite literally tossed me into the mines and slammed the iron door shut. I took a dive and landed quite hard on the dusty, earthy surface and studied my surroundings. It was nothing but an extremely large underground mine filled with a few miserable people doing hard labour. Wooden scaffolding and ramparts stood about, only to help prisoners carry on with their duties.
I seemed to have landed in a giant earthen clearing with a small campfire going on in the middle. A single scrawny man, similarly attired, sat crossed legs in front of it in hope of some more warmth, trying to forget the troubles of his daily life at the mine. He rubbed his hands together, shivering. He had a shaved head and his whole body seemed to tremble. I got to my feet and dusted myself off. I went to the man in hope of making his acquaintance.
What good is imprisonment without a little company, eh?
He slowly looked up to me as I nervously approached him with a pitiful expression. I guess him to be in his early forties.
“Just arrived?” he asked. I sighed miserably.
“Unfortunately, yes, in case you missed the whole scene.”
The man stared at me with narrowed eyes before saying, “Nice to meet you. I’m Renold Nicolli - been in here for about twenty-three years.”
I smiled and quietly sat down by the fire, across from him.
“Twenty-three years?” I gasped. “Wow. That must’ve been harsh… Oh! Sorry. The name’s Carlaylin. Carlaylin Thorel.” I stuck my hand out for him to shake.
“Great!”
He shook, but his expression soon turned grim. “Welcome to hell.”
That wasn’t exactly reassuring, but not at all underestimated. I felt unable to escape the fate and gulped, hugging myself the soon as I started to tremble. Oddly enough, these mines were rather cold. I blame the lack of sun.
So this is what fate has planned for me. Great...
I was aware of two men mining in the far.
“Are you three the only ones here?” Renold shook his head.
“Nope. Mine is big, so expect to meet a few people. A lot of them actually.”
It was somehow reassuring that there a lot of others in here with me… Meaning that I wasn’t exactly the only one sent to suffer for so long. Just look at Renold for instance.
All of a sudden, the secured barred door slammed open.
I turned my head to my left to see who it was, absentmindedly planning on taking a run and perhaps make my escape out of here… Suicidal.
Expectantly, one of the guards entered, a whip hung by his side.
“You have got to be kidding me,” I sighed miserably, my mood dropping lower than it already was. I closed my eyes tightly as I faced the earthen ceiling in absolute grief.
Startled, Renold got to his feet and pulled me up as well.
“Break’s over,” Renold whispered, “Well, not that I had the right in the first place. Hey, mind me and you sticking together? Help each other out perhaps? It may be our only chance at survival... Of, for you anyways, I’ve been around for thirty-three years.”
He held out his hand.
It took me a moment to think about it, but shortly agreed.
“Deal.” I shook his hand.
It took us no time before we grabbed dour pickaxes and started mining for precious stones and minerals. I worked hard with the hope that I’ll get out of here by today, but by my surprise, I was wrong… Well, not that big of a surprise.
I spent the night on the uncomfortable ground, almost not able to close an eye. I had little more than a thin piece of cloth to act as my makeshift blanket. The mines were even colder at night.
The next morning I got up by a kick from the guard to my back. It got me to instantly continue the hard labour, carrying heavy crates twice my weight, mining for precious stones and help construct more wooden platforms.
I woke up to day three, starting to lose my faith and hope. At least I had some company. I helped Renold by carrying a few crates for him when he was tired. He soon returned the favour when he could. Day four arrived. I was more than tired since you only get four hours of sleep. There’s not much to eat but stale bread and dirty water.
They brought food every three days – if they remembered, that is. But I was strong. I was a survivor. I had Olaf to thank for that… Don’t ask.
I could last for a pretty long time without even a pain in the back. Well, ignoring that back-kick the one guard gave me two days ago. Sad thing is… I was stuck in this mine for longer than I had anticipated.
Not even one soul came to bale me out… Heck, I even tried more than one escape attempt myself, even with the use of my magic, but nothing worked. Absolutely nothing.
Day twenty-one: I worked as hard as usual, but soon a terrible misunderstanding took place. I was mining next to one of the men, completely exhausted. I looked around at my surroundings. No guards were in sight at that moment. I sighed and took the chance to rest a bit, exhaustedly leaning against the wall. I’ve been working since day one and nothing but a total of eighty-four hours of sleep!
I watched as the man next to me continued his part of work, but by dumb luck, he accidentally took a wrong swing that caused a dreadful avalanche of loose stones and boulders. My eyes were never wider. Instinctively, I leapt out of the way, missing the boulders by only a few inches, only to save myself, but the man wasn’t as fortunate as I was. He was crushed, buried underneath all those boulders. I bit down on my lip and took a step back, absolutely shocked.
I truly felt sorry for the man, really I did!
With my eyes still fixated on the heap of heavy stone, a whip suddenly hit me on the back. I cried out in pain as I stumbled forward.
My back burned agonizingly and left an endless strain of pain. I shakily touched my back. When I brought my hand to my face, I noticed blood adorning my fingertips.
“Haven’t you killed enough, maggot?!”
Startled, I swung around and saw another mine guard. I was sure he wasn’t there before.
“No, I promise you! I didn’t do it!” I raised my hands to prove the point and shook my head in a mission to plead for mercy.
Wait, why am I pleading for mercy? This guy should be the one fearing ME! Well, I guess me being unarmed proves the fact that I’m backing away.
“Enough of your lies!”
He withdrew his dagger and swung it at me. I gave a sharp cry of pain and fell to the ground as my legs gave in from the shock. It had struck my right upper arm and tore my skin, leaving behind little more than a deep gash spewing blood that stained my shirt.
The guard was brutal and landed a few kicks to my gut and left me lying their.
I lay there, curled up on the ground, breathless and coughing up some blood. The pain throbbed at my stomach and stung at my arm and tore through my back.
I shivered and clasped the wound on my arm.
The cut stretched from my shoulder all the way to my elbow, though it was enough to concern someone since it couldn’t stop bleeding.
A hand reached down to me. At first I hesitated, but found my courage to fight against the pain. I took it and let it help me up, only to come face to face with a young boy. He looked about the same age as Terrowin… Twenty-one or twenty-two.
This guy had spiky black hair and dark blue, dusky eyes.
“I, uh-” I stumbled on my own words, but couldn’t seem to finish the sentence. The boy took my arm and examined the appalling wound.
“Are you okay?!” he asked,
his tone filled with surprising worry. I shook my daze away and pulled my arm away from his grip.
“I’m fine.” I dropped my gaze with a stubborn frown, but couldn’t hold it for long.
“I’m Adrian. I’ve been here for about two years. Pleased to make your acquaintance. And you are?”
I bit my lip, grasping the wound. It took me a minute or so to respond. I tried to hide my trembling.
“Carlaylin…”
“You sure-” I chuckled and cut him short.
“Yeah, I’m fine. Just a minor wound is all.”
“Minor… right.” I gave him a playful push and he smiled along with gleaming eyes.
From that moment on, I knew I had made a new colleague and always hoped to see him around the next corner. Just like Renold and I, we helped each other wherever we could, overcoming the harsh conditions and daily toil of this godforsaken mine. He also helped me by gracing me with a spot of warm company.
Unfortunately, I didn’t realise what that wound meant for me. This mine was crawling with diseases and sicknesses, sicknesses coming from the rotting corpses of former convicts.
At first I was too distracted and naive to realize that soon a terrible illness had befallen me and my wound became infected since it never got the proper care it needed, only a makeshift bandage, dirty and ragged… Not exactly of much help.
Usually a wound of mine, without care, would recover without any trouble at all, but like I said before: this is a mine of diseases and the wound most certainly wasn’t minor.
I grew weaker by the day and each day became more of a challenge. I needed help and knew I had to get out of here soon. I tried to follow that traitor’s advice and called for a dwarf named Borin when things got exceptionally bad, but no one came to my aid. I tried this every day in hope that he’ll someday answer to my urgent plea, but it never happened...
Renold and I worked as hard as we possibly could, trying to avoid the horrendous whips. A great friendship had grown between us. I don’t know how I, mentally and physically, could’ve survived without him. I actually owed him my life since he once caught me when I was about to fall into a deep hole, a sinkhole. But after more than a month of imprisonment, a series of guards came rushing into the mine, grabbing Renold by his arms without any word of explanation. I ran forward and tried to stop them, but was soon caught all the same to stay out of their way. I was bewildered, frowning in question at what was happening. I tried to yank myself free from their grip, but my strength had only faltered and left me with no hope of freeing myself
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